"Adebayor, Berbatov are very lazy players" - Brede Hangeland

Former Fulham defender, Brede Hangeland, says former Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor and ex-Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov are the laziest footballers he met in his career.

Hangeland, who retired in August, listed his two former teammates as laziest among other players he played alongside.

In a list which also has Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and Jimmy Bullard, Hangland revealed that Berbatov always spent more time getting massages than training.

The former Norway international claimed Adebayor would be drinking coffee in the gym rather than working out when they played together at Crystal Palace.

He added that the striker once asked him for restaurant tips during a game when Fulham played against Tottenham.

He said, “This was incredible … Fulham was attacking and I was standing by the halfway line marking Adebayor, and he says to me: ‘Ah, I’m hungry.’

“I said, ‘What?’ He said ‘I’m hungry. I can’t wait for the game to finish. I want to go to a restaurant. Do you know a good restaurant in London, Hangeland?’ In all my years, I’ve never had the kind of conversation I had in the centre circle at White Hart Lane.”

Hangeland further claimed that when Adebayor moved to Crystal Palace last year, he did not impress with his work ethic either.

“When we had strength training, he would sit in the weight room on a chair with a cup of coffee and a muffin,” the Norwegian said. ”

“We knew that he was being paid by three clubs at the same time [Manchester City, Tottenham and Palace] … and he was sitting in the gym drinking coffee.”

Hangeland added that Berbatov, the former Tottenham and Manchester United striker who joined Fulham in 2012, was also known for not working hard in training.

“I have never seen a man get so many massages. I’m sure he spent more time getting massages than he did training, guaranteed.

“The guy who would give the massages was a good friend of mine.

“Every time we were doing strength training, he would be getting a massage. And at the end of a long season, usually the players would give the physios some kind of gift.‎”